Anniversary
by that dark-haired girl
Summary: George has been acting weird. Well, weirder than usual...also, what's with the pineapple? George/Verity Valentine's Fluff.


_Anniversary_

* * *

On Tuesday, George comes into the back office with a cake positively drowning in pink and white icing. He doesn't say anything, just leaves it in the little cooling cupboard he keeps behind their shared desk and walks right back out again. Verity opens her mouth to make a witty comment, or maybe ask what is going on, but the words elude her, so she sits there with her mouth open, staring, even after the door swings shut. It's just too weird...even for George.

He comes back a few hours later, acting like this is the first time he's seen Verity all day. Verity doesn't think much of it, because George has _always_ been kind of weird, but she can't shake the strange feeling she gets when she realizes that the cake has lasted the entire day without being fiendishly devoured by her husband in one sitting.

* * *

On Wednesday, George sprints into the office, shoves a bottle of champagne and a pineapple into the bottom desk drawer, and sprints back out.

Verity calls after him, but George doesn't respond, and just as he did the day before, when he arrives at the office an hour later, he acts as if he's just rolled out of bed.

* * *

On Friday, George lugs a huge plastic garbage bag into the office. He drags it all the way to the back closet which is – what the hell?

"What kind of wards did you put on the back closet?" Verity asks, getting up from her chair behind the register and following him to the back of the office, only to be met with a door in the face. She groans under her breath and sticks her hand on the handle, not entirely surprised when she gets a mild shock and the word "_UNAUTHORIZED_" flashes in giant, cherry-red letters across the wood of the door.

She's standing in full view on the closet door with his arms crossed when George emerges a few minutes later. George, of course, ignores her and disappears out of the office again, even after Verity runs after him shouting, "George, what's going on? Why is the closet locked? And what on _earth_ are you _doing?_"

He pauses, shrugs, and slams the office door behind him, and Verity is both confused and angry enough to scream.

She shouts after him, _"This better not turn out the same way as that Luminous Lingerie fiasco!",_ but he pretends he doesn't hear her as he walks up the back steps to their apartment.

* * *

On Saturday, Verity decides to get to the bottom of things. She calls her mother and tells her that she's too sick to come over for the little lunch they had planned and spends the entire day sitting at her desk even though the Wheeze is shut down for the day, practically staring a hole in the door. She watches all day and all night and just when she's ready to call it quits and hunt George down, the door opens and George comes in backwards, holding a box and wearing a suit.

"What the hell is going on here?" Verity asks. "Why can't I get into my own closet? Why do we have champagne? And why the _hell_ haven't you eaten that cake yet?"

George turns around slowly, eyebrows raised.

"You were supposed to get tired of waiting nine minutes ago," George says. "Then you were supposed to leave to try and find me, starting with Shell Cottage, then your parent's place, and then the Burrow, at which point I was going to sneak in and set everything up, so by the time Percy told you to come back here, everything would be ready." George puts the box down on a desk and frowns. "How did you not leave nine minutes ago? What time did you get here this morning?"

"George!" Verity snaps.

George nods. "Right, right," he says. "You're seriously cramping my style here, Verity. It's not nice to ruin my plans on our anniversary. Really, the one who ends up suffering is you, and your bad mood will just ruin the night for everyone else. Do you really want to be responsible for ruining the night for _everyone_?"

"Our anniversary?" Things are starting to connect in Verity's head. She has to squint and tilt her head to the side in order to slide into George's way of thinking, but when she does, things begin to fall into place.

"Our _anniversary_," Verity repeats, and she slowly starts to smile. George is looking entirely too pleased with himself. "Okay. Good work…you had me completely and totally fooled. But tell me one thing: what does the pineapple have to do with anything?"

If it's even possible, George's smile grows even wickeder. "You'll see."

Verity rolls her eyes at that – George _always_ has had a flair for the dramatic – but kisses him anyway, because, for better or worse, George's plans usually turn out all right.

* * *


End file.
